Sport

Wasps fly half can't wait to unlock speed merchants

WASPS might well be the fastest side in the Aviva Premiership this season, but speed of movement will count for little without speed of thought from the man waving the wand inside them.

This season Ruaridh Jackson has been recruited to challenge Andy Goode for the fly half honour.

Former Chelsea FA academy player Alex Lozowski could also play a part after returning to Wasps from Leeds, but it seems likely that Jackson and Goode will share the lion’s share of the workload and the Scottish international can’t wait.

Jackson said: “If I can get some gametime it will be really exciting trying to unlock these backs.

“We’ve got some good boys in the forwards who can give us some good front foot ball then it’s just up to the tens to unleash this sort of pace.

“We’ve got numerous strike threats in the backline so I’m sure it will be fun and exciting for the fans as well.”

The 26-year-old joined from Glasgow in the summer and came off the bench in Wasps’ win over London Welsh before starting against Connacht – although an injury forced him off before half-time.

He said: “This was my first time moving club and it’s been a nice change of scenery. It was a little bit nerve-wracking moving down here but I’ve settled in really quickly.

“Pre-season has been a bit different to what I’m used to though. There has been a lot of power endurance, a lot of wrestling and different weights.

“We’ve done a lot of swimming as well, which is not my strength – you can’t spend more than a few minutes in the North Sea!

“It’s been tough, but it’s nice to get into the games now and I enjoyed my first run out last week.

“It’s different coming off the bench than it is starting though and I came off earlier than I would have liked against Connacht.

“I just twisted my knee a little bit. It’s nothing too serious. It was more precautionary.”

Jackson’s injury was one of a few pre-season hiccups for the club despite their nine tries in two games.

He said: “Things haven’t been perfect, they never are during pre-season. But it gives you a good baseline of where we are and we’ve done some good things and scored plenty of tries against two tough teams.

“There are still a few too many mistakes, but we want to play with the ball and guys are trying things, challenging themselves and putting their skills under pressure.

“There is still plenty to work on and we know we’ve got a big couple of weeks before a tasty start to the season with Saracens.

“But we’re coming off the back of two wins and those wins breed confidence.”